Micro-feed adjusting mechanism



May 21, 1963 s. BUDLONG MICRO-FEED ADJUSTING MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed April 25, 1961 iizz/ezajar 62/246026 Zad/ozg, We M K May 21, 1963s. BUDLONG MICRO-FEED ADJUSTING MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April25, 1961 ii a Mela/017 \io'meom 5a 4/0 y 1, 1963 s. BUDLONG 3,090,250

MICRO-FEED ADJUSTING MECHANISM Filed April 25, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 5jzmszfan \jawaozzfiwglb q I 53% M M nois Filed Apr. 25, 1961, Ser. No.105,324 Claims. (Cl. 74-600) The invention relates to metal stripfeeding devices of the reciprocating rack type, and has reference inparticular to improved van'ating means for the crank arm to which therack is secured, whereby the eccentricity of the crank arm can beadjusted to a limited extent for any particular manual setting of thecrank arm.

Metal working machines, such as punch presses, are equipped withattachments for conditioning and feeding stock material in strip form tothe plunger-actuated die of the press for cutting, punching or forsimilar operations. The feed of the strip material is performed byfeeding rolls which have intermittent rotation and the material isoperated on following each feeding movement. Since the speed of thepress and the gripping action of the feed rolls are variable, it becomesnecessary at times to make adjustments in the feeding extent of therolls in order to obtain the desired feeding accuracy.

In the Budlong Patent 2,856,793 granted October 21, 1958, adjustablecrank mechanism is disclosed and claimed, and which makes it possiblefor the operator to adjust the feeding extent of the rolls at any time,even while the press is operating.

An object of the present invention is to provide adjustable crankmechanism which will constitute an improvement over the device of thepatent as above identified in the simplicity of its construction, in thereduced number of elements and auxiliary parts employed, and in theeconomies which result as regards the manufacture of the present device.

Another object of the invention is to provide adjustable crank mechanismwhich will be highly efficient in operation, which will not require astopping of the press to adjust the same, and which will be soconstructed and arranged that the said adjustments can be made by a handwheel conveniently accessible to the operator.

Another object is to provide adjustable crank mechanism forreciprocating the rack of a punch press or the like, and which willincorporate rotatable means for effecting adjustments of an eccentric,the said eccentric constituting the basic element by means of which thereciprocating stroke of the rack are varied.

A more particular object of the invention resides in the provision ofmechanism including a crank arm having an adjustable eccentricjournalled thereon, the said mechanism also incorporating a pair ofopposed helix gears and an encircling annular gear operatively meshingwith the helix gears, respectively, whereby to effect adjustment of theeccentric by axial movement of the encircling annular gear.

With these and various other objects in View, the invention may consistof certain novel features of construction and operation, as will be morefully described and particularly pointed out in the specification,drawings and claims appended thereto.

In the drawings which illustrate an embodiment of the device and whereinlike reference characters are used to designate like parts- 3,0902%Patented May 21, 1963 FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a punchpress equipped with the adjustable crank mechanism of the invention, andwhich is illustrated in combination with feeding rolls for the press,the same being intermittently actuated by rack and pinion mechanism;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the adjustable crank mechanism ofthe invention as applied to a trunnion member projecting from therotating face plate of the punch press;

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view, being shown in section, of theadjustable nism as illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 4-4 ofFIGURE 3 and which illustrates the eccentric member in combination withthe arrangement of helix gears and annular gear for adjusting the saideccentric member;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary, detailed sectional view, showing the mannerin which the annular gear has operative engagement with both of thehelix gears;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view similar to FIGURE 4 but showing a changedposition of the adjusting means and eccentric member;

FIGURE 7 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along line77 of FIGURE 4 and which shows the eccentric member in a zero positionof adjustment; and

FIGURE 8 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along line88 of FIGURE 6 and showing the eccentric member in a maximum position ofadjustment.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly FIGURE 1, the punch pressselected for illustrating the present invention essentially consists ofa pair of welded or cast uprights such as 20 which are suitably spacedto position a bed plate between the uprights, and which additionallymount a vertically reciprocating plunger for coaction with the bedplate, all of which constitutes conventional structure. The said plungeris actuated by the main operating shaft 21, FIGURES 4 and 6, the samebeing disposed transversely of the press and journalled for rotation bythe uprights. Upon rotation of said main operating shaft 21, the plungeris reciprocated vertically and thus the plunger and the die carriedthereby will have movement to and from the bed plate of the press toperform the desired punching, cutting or forming operation on the stockmaterial fed thereto.

It will be understood that the feeding of the strip material to thepunch press, such as herein illustrated and described, will take placeintermittently in timed relation with the reciprocating movements of theplungeractuated die. For the feeding operation the press is equippedwith feeding rolls on respective sides thereof. However, for disclosingthe micro-feed adjusting device of the invention and the crank arm andreciprocating rack associated therewith, only the feed rolls at theentrance end are illustrated, and accordingly the description will belimited thereto.

The bracket 22 extending laterally from the upright 26 on the feedingside of the press provides the support for the rear feed rolls 23 and24. The said rolls are journalled by the side members 25 and 26 whichare securely fastened at their base to the bracket 22. The shaft 27 forthe top roll 23 extends a short distance beyond so as to project fromeach side of its journalling member and the same can be said for shaft28 of the bottom roll 24.

certain parts crank mecha- .the retaining washer 51.

However, the left end of said shaft 28 is reduced in diameter and thisend extends a sufficient distance so as to enter the rack and pinionhousing 39 for operative con nection with driving elements locatedwithin the housing. The right hand end of shafts 27 and 225 are eachprovided with a gear, not shown, and which have meshing relation so thatthe rolls will rotate in unison and to a like extent. Also, the lever 31is provided for hand operation in order to lift the top roll 23 forspacing the rolls to facilitate the insertion of stock materialtherebetween.

The housing 36 journals the shaft 32 to which is fixed the gear 33. Saidgear has meshing relation with the teeth 34 of the reciprocating rack35. This operative end of the rack is received and guided by the housing36 and thus as the rack reciprocates, the gear 33 and shaft 32 arerotated first in a clockwise direction and then in a counterclockwisedirection. By means of a conventional one-way clutch mounted on theshaft 32 and combined with interconnecting bevelled gearing, all ofwhich is located within the housing 36, the rotations of the shaft 32 ina feeding direction only are transmitted to shaft 28 of the lower feedroll. Rack and pinion feeding mechanism for intermittently rotatingfeeding rolls is fully disclosed and described in the Littell Patent1,947,015, granted February 13, 1934.

In order that the adjustable crank mechanism can be actuated duringoperation of the press, it is necessary to provide a hand wheel such as36 for effecting said adjustments. The hand wheel should be convenientlylocated for access by the operator, and accordingly the same is mountedon bracket 26 as at 37. A flexible drive 38 operatively connects thehand Wheel with the gear 49 located within and journalled by the brackethousing 41. The housing 41 is suitably fixed to the reciprocating rack35 on the side opposite the teeth 34 and thus the bracket has movementwith the rack. The housing 41 also journals the pinion shaft 42, havingthe pinion 43 fixed thereto, and which meshes with the gear 49. Rotationof the hand wheel 36 is thus imparted to the pinion shaft 42 and to thespline tube 44- which is fixed to the upper extending end of the pinionshaft. The upper end of the splined tube 44 is suitably journalled bythe bracket 45 which is anchored on the reciprocating rack, and this endis provided with a square shaped opening for receiving the square rod46. The said rod extends for approximately the length of the rack so asto have connection at its upper end with the adjustable crank mechanismwhereby to effect the desired adjustments of the mechanism as the handwheel is rotated ineither direction,

Referring to FIGURE 3 it will be seen that the square shaped rod 46terminates in the coupling 47 journalled by the bracket 48 which is alsoanchored on the reciprocating rack. The coupling is retained by the baseflange St and The lower end of shaft 52 is received by the coupling andsaid end is keyed thereto as at 53. The upper end of shaft 52 isjournalled by the spaced ball bearings '54 and 55 within the integralsection 56 of the journalling member 57 to which the rack 35 is secured.This journalled end of shaft 52 is provided with the worm pinion 58 andsaid pinion has meshing relation with the worm gear 6%, FIGURES 2 and 3,also journalled for rotation by the shaft 61 within the integral section56 of themember 57. It will be understood that said shaft 61 is thusdisposed at right angles to the shaft 52. Shaft 61 also mounts a secondgear 62 which has considerable length as best shown in FlGURES 2 and 4.It is necessary for gear 62 to have such length, since a threadedactuating ring 63is adapted to be rotated thereby and said ring as aresult of its rotation has bodily movement in a direction axially ofshaft 61 and thus along the length of gear'6 2. The gear 62 andactuating ring 63 comprise essential parts of the adjustable crankmechanism, and the same will now be described in the manner in whichthey and other elements are combined with the trunnion member projectingfrom the face plate of the press.

The face plate 65, FIGURES 1, 4 and 6, is provided with a groove 66extending diametrically of the plate and within which there is mountedthe threaded screw 67. The groove has a wide base with a much narroweropen slot such as 68 so that diagonal walls 70 are provided. Accordinglythe groove is adapted to receive the coneshaped head 71 of the trunnionmember 72, the head having threaded engagement with the screw 67 andwhereby the trunn on member extends outwardly from the face platethrough the slot 68. The trunnion member functions to journal thereciprocating rack '35 at the extreme upper end of the rack and thus themember forms a crank arm for the rack, the same being adjustable alonggroove 66 in order to vary the eccentricity or throw of the crank armand thus the strokes of the reciprocating rack. Manual adjustment asregards the position of the trunnion member 72 is effected by rotationof the screw 67 and accordingly atjustment thereof to vary thereciprocating strokes of the rack requires that the press be stopped.However, for any particular manual setting of the trunnion member, theadjustable crank mechanism of the invention provides for a limitedvariation in its eccentricity, and thus the strokes of the rack can bevaried to a degree during operation of the press for either increasingor decreasing the feeding action of the feed rolls.

The trunnion member 72 has a clamping sleeve 74 in telescoping relationtherewith, and said sleeve has integral base flanges 75- which providethe lugs 76 having interfitting relation in grooves formed in the faceplate 65. A stationary helix gear 77 is also located on the trunnionmember 72 in front of the sleeve 74, the helix car being telescoped onthe trunnion member and being formed with a keyway slot on its insidesurface for receiving the Woodrufi key 78, FIGURE 5. A series of spacedwashers such as St and 81 are are interposed between the end of helixgear 77 and the fastening nut 82 so that upon tightening the nut, thehead 71 of the trunnion member is caused to engage the diagonal walls 70of the groove 66 in the face plate, and a similar reactive force isapplied to the sleeve 74 and to the helix gear 77 through the washerswhereby to force the flanges 75 of the sleeve into firm and solidcontact with the face plate. The sleeve and helix gear are thus held onthe trunnion member in solid contact wtih each other and with the faceplate and in a manner whereby turning of the parts is effectivelyprevented.

The eccentric member designated in its entirety by numeral 83 is in turntelescoped on the clamping sleeve 7 4, being mounted on the sleeve so asto rotate thereon. In accordance with the invent-ion a second helix gear84 is formed integral with the eccentric member 83. Said gear 84 is alsoadapted to rotate on sleeve 74 and said gear is concentric therewith.Whereas hclix gear 77 is fixed to the trunnion member, the helix gear 84is mounted for rotation. The said gears have the same outside diameterand the teeth formed on the exterior of the same are each disposeddiagonally, having a slope of approximately 30 degrees with respect to acentral axis as clearly shown in FIGURES 4 and 6. The teeth 79 of helixgear 77 slope in a direction from left to right beginning at the insideedge to the outside edge adjacent the washers. The teeth 86 of themovable helix gear 84 slope in a reverse direction, namely from theright to the left, beginning at the inside edge to the outside edgeadjacent helix 77. Also, the teeth of the respective gears are of thesame size, each gear has the same number of teeth and the gears have thesame length. A fillet is provided by the sleeve 74 in order toaccommodate the rounded edge of the eccentric member 83, which isadapted to rotate with gear 84 as a unit on the sleeve.

"Dhe cylindrical housing 87 for the adjustable crank arm mechanism is anintegral part of the journalling member 57, and the combined unit ismounted on the eccentric member 83 for substantial frictionless rotationby means of the ball bearing race 88. The ball bearing race is retainedin place by the flange 89 and by the releasable retaining ring 90located on the side of the hearing within the housing. On the side ofthe bearing adjacent the face plate a special retaining ring 9 1 isprovided, being secured to the housing by the screws 92. The enclosinghousing for the adjustable crank arm mechanism is completed by the cover92 of special shape and which has a circular base flange 93 adapted toengage and interfit with a circular flange 94 provided by the housing87. The screws 95- releasably secure the parts together. The fromopening in the cover 92 through which the trunnion member extends isclosed by the sealing ring 96 held to the cover by the screws 97. Thesealing ring 96 extends between the spaced washers 80 and 81, and thusthe ring provides an oil and grease retainer for the housing structurewhile permitting relative movement to take place between the ring andthe Washer.

The inside periphery of the cover 92 is threaded at 98 for a part of itslength starting with the end adjacent the circular flange 93 andcontinuing to approximately midway of the length of the cover. Thethreads 98 have meshing relation with similar threads 100 formed on theexterior of the actuating ring 63, and thus the actuating ring isthreaded :within the cover so that upon rotation of the same itsposition with respect to the cover may be varied. For example, whenrotated in one direction the ring will move into the cover, and whenrotated in an opposite direction the ring will move out of the cover.The inside circular edge of the actuating ring terminates in a ring gear101, FIGURE 3, which has meshing relation with the driving gear 62 andas previously explained, said gear 62 has considerable length, since thering gear 101 will have axial movement as the result of its rotation. Aretaining plate 102 is secured by screws 103 to the ring gear and saidretaining plate is thus opposed to the inwardly extending flange 104formed on the opposite end of the actuating ring 63.

An annular gear 105 is located the actuating ring 63 and said annulargear has a dual set of teeth on its inside periphery at respective endsfor meshing relation with the teeth on the helix gears. One set of teeth106 is adapted to mesh with teeth 79 on the stationary helix gear 77.The second set of teeth 107 is adapted to mesh with the teeth 86 on therotatable helix gear 84. In addition, the annular gear 105 has anannular projection 108, FIGURE 6, extending outwardly from adjacent theteeth 106, and a second annular projection 110 extends outwardly fromadjacent the teeth 107. By means of the said projections the annulargear 105 is retained Within the actuating ring, since projection 108 hascontact with the flange i, Whereas the projection 110 has contact withthe retaining plate .102. The contacting surfaces of the respectiveprojections and the retaining elements are made smooth with a highfinish in order to facilitate the circular movement which the annulargear 105 and actuating ring 63 will have relative to each other duringrotation of the face plate for reciprocating the rack.

The mode of operation of the adjustable crank arm mechanism is believedto be readily apparent from the drawings, particularly as shown inFIGURES 4, 5 and 6. Upon actuation of the hand wheel 36 the rotation ofthe same is transmitted to the flexible shaft 38 and from said shaft tothe spline 44, to the square rod 46, coupling 47, rod 52, to the wormpinion 58. Rotation of the pinion is imparted to its meshing Worm gear60, fixed to shaft 61 and rotation of this shaft will produce rotationof the gear 62 which is also fixed thereto. Said gear 62 thusconstitutes the driving gear for the actuating ring 63, since the gearhas meshing relation with the ring gear 101. Thus the actuating ring canbe positioned for efiecting the desired positioning of the eccentric 83.When said eccentric is located as shown in FIGURE 7, being disposedlaterally to the right, the crank arm adjusting mechanism is set at zeroadjustment. In other words, the throw of the trunnion member forreciprocating the rack will be due entirely to its position as manuallyset by rotation of the threaded screw 67. When the eccentric member 83is positioned as shown in FIGURE 8, the adjustment of the same is amaximum, and thus the throw of the trunnion member for reciprocating therack will be difierent to the extent of the maximum adjustment of theeccentric member. The parts have been so designed that one turn of thehand wheel will effect a feeding adjustment of the feed rolls ofapproximately .0036 of an inch.

Referring to FIGURE 4 it will be observed that for zero adjustment ofthe eccentric member, the actuating ring is located within the cover toa maximum extent. Accordingly the annular gear 105 is located withrespect to the helix gears 84 and 77, so that the teeth 106 and 107 ofthe annular gear mesh with the teeth of the helix gears adjacent theirouter edges. Rotation of gear 62 to rotate the ring gear '101 in adirection to move the actuating ring 63 out of the cover, will cause theteeth 106 of the annular gear to ride along the diagonal teeth of thestationary helix gear 77. This will produce rotation of the annular gearin a counterclockwise direction, FIGURES 7 and 8. Such rotation of theannular gear is transmitted to the helix gear 84, since teeth 107 meshwith the teeth of the said helix gear. Additional rotation is impartedto the helix gear 84 since teeth 107 have engaging relation with thediagonal teeth of the helix, and accordingly the rotative action of theannular gear 105 caused by helix 77 is not only transmitted to helix 84but the rotative movement is doubled by the opposed relation of thehelix gears. Since the helix 84 is an integral part of the eccentric 83,the member is accordingly rotated so that its position with respect tothe trunnion member is changed.

In the event the actuating ring 63 is rotated to move the samecompletely out of the cover, the ring will take the position asillustrated in FIGURE 6 wherein the teeth 106 and 107 of the annulargear engage the teeth of the helix gears 77 and 84 adjacent their insideedges. As a result the counter-clockwise rotation of the eccentric memher is such as to move the same from the Zero position of adjustment asshown in FIGURE 7, to the maximum position of adjustment as shown inFIGURE 8. As clearly evident from said figures the eccentric member hasmoved approximately degrees, and thus the action of the actuating ring,in moving with respect to the cover so as to produce similar movement ofthe annular gear on the helix gears, is such as to produce this extentof rotation of the eccentric member. The helix gears since they aredisposed adjacent each other can be described as presenting aherringbone arrangement, which, however, is uniquely characterized,since gear 77 is fixed to the trunnion Whereas gear 84 is rotatable onthe clamping sleeve, being formed integral with the eccentric member.Since the teeth of the two gears oppose each other, all stresses andstrains incident to the driving of the reciprocating rack areeffectively cancelled. Also, this opposed arrangement of the gear teethon the respective helix gears doubles the motion of the movable helixfor any degree of movement of the annular gear axially of the stationaryhelix. Since all of the parts are circular in formation, considerableeconomies can be effected in the manufacture of the same, and furtherreduction in cost is possible by reason of the simplicity of the device.

The housing unit 87 including cover 92 are generally positionedeccentrically of the trunnion member, since the parts are mounted forrotation of the eccentric member 83. Thus the coacting elements namelythe actuating ring 63 and the annular gear will have rotative movementssimulating a wobble with respect to each other. However, the actuatingring has such end contact with the annular gear as to permit such wobblealthough any axial movement of the actuating ring will be efiectivelyimparted to the annular gear. Thus the invention provides variatingmeans for the feeding mechanism of the press whereby the reciprocatingstrokes of the rack can be varied in length to a limited extent for anyparticular fixed setting of the trunnion member. Also, as designed, thesaid variating means can be adjusted at any time, even during operationof the press for which purpose the hand wheel 36 is provided.

The invention is not to be limited to or by details of construction ofthe particular embodiment thereof illustrated by the drawings, asvarious other forms of the device will, of course, be apparent to thoseskilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention orthe scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In apparatus for processing strip material fed to said apparatus, incombination, an operating shaft, a plate member fixed to and rotatingwith the shaft, a trunnion member adjustably fixed to the plate memberto form crank arm mechanism therewith, an adjustable eccentric device inassociated relation with the trunnion member, whereby the device iscapable of varying the eccentricity of the crank arm mechanism for anyfixed position of the trunnion member, said device including a clampingsleeve in telescoping relation on the trunnion member and having itsbase end in contact with the plate member, a helix gear fixed to thetrunnion member beyond the sleeve and having contact with the adjacentend of the sleeve, securing means on the trunnion member beyond thehelix gear for retaining the trunnion member, Sleeve and the gear as aunit in fixed position on the plate member an eccentric member having asecond helix gear integral therewith, said eccentric member and secondhelix gear being mounted on the sleeve for rotation and being soarranged that the second helix gear is disposed adjacent and concentricwith the fixed helix gear, an annular gear disposed in encirclingrelation with the said helix gears, said annular gear having internalteeth at respective ends thereof for meshing relation with the teeth ofthe helix gears, respectively, means for effecting axial movement of theannular gear, and a housing unit for said device mounted for rotation onthe eccentric member.

2. Apparatus for processing strip material fed to said apparatus asdefined by claim 1, wherein the means for effecting axial movement ofthe annular gear includes an actuating ring disposed concentrically withrespect to the trunnion member and being threaded for axial movementwithin the housing unit, said actuating ring encircling the annulargear, and retaining means provided by the actuating ring and havingcontact with the annular gear at respective ends thereof, said retainingmeans and annular gear being so constructed and arranged as to permitrotative movements of the ring and gear independently of each other.

3. In an adjusting device of the character described, the combinationwith a plate member adapted for rotation, of a trunnion memberprojecting outwardly from the face of the plate member to form crank armmechanism therewith, a clamping sleeve on the trunnion memher having itsbase end in contact with the plate member, a helix gear in fixedrelation on the trunnion member beyond the sleeve and in contact withthe adjacent end of the sleeve, securing means threaded to the end ofthe trunnion member beyond the helix gear for retaining the trunnionmember, sleeve and gear as a unit in fixed position on the plate member,an eccentric memher having a second helix gear integral therewith, saideccentric member and second helix gear being mounted on the sleeve forrotation and being so arranged that the second helix gear is disposedadjacent and concentric with the fixed helix gear, said helix gears eachhaving diagonal teeth in opposed relation to the teeth of the othergear, an annular gear disposed in encircling relation withthe said helixgears, said annular gear'havinga set of internal teeth at each end, oneset of teeth having meshing relation with the teeth of the fixed helixgear and the other set of teeth having meshing relation with the teethof the second helix gear, a housing unit for said device mounted forrotation on the eccentric mernher, and means for efiecting axialmovement of the annular gear along the length of the helix gears, saidmeans including an actuating ring encircling the annular gear and havinga threaded relation with the inside surface of the housing unit formovement axially of the trunnion member.

4. An adjusting device of the character as defined by claim 3,additionally including retaining flanges provided by the actuating ringand which are disposed for contact with the respective ends of theannular gear, whereby said gear is caused to move with the axialmovement of the actuating ring, said retaining flanges and contactingends of the annular gear having smooth surfaces to permit rotativemovements of the parts relative to each other.

5. In an adjusting device of the character described, the combinationwith a plate member adapted for rotation, of a trunnion memberprojecting outwardly from the face of the plate member to form crank armmechanism therewith, an eccentric member mounted on the trunnion memberfor rotation with respect thereto and being disposed relatively adjacentthe plate member, a helix gear also mounted for rotation on the trunnionmember beyond the eccentric member and being concentric with thetrunnion member, said helix gear and eccentric member being connected soas to rotate as a unit, a second helix gear mounted on the trunnionmemher and being fixed thereto, said helix gears being disposed adjacenteach other and having diagonally op posed teeth whereby a herringbonearrangement is preented by the two said gears, an annular gear inencircling relation with the helix gear-s, said annular gear having aset of internal teeth at each end, one set of teeth having meshingrelation with the teeth of the first mentioned helix gear and the otherset of teeth having meshing relation with the teeth of the fixed helixgear, a housing unit for said device mounted for rotation on theeccentric member, and means provided by the housing unit for effectingaxial movement of the annular gear along the length of the helix gears,whereby said annular gear is caused to rotate for any axial movementalong the fixed helix gear and which is transmitted to the firstmentioned helix gear to produce rotation of said gear and thus rotationof the eccentric member.

6. An adjusting device of the character as defined by claim 5, whereinthe teeth of the helix gears are diagonally disposed approximately 30degrees with respect to the rotative axis of the gears and wherein theteeth on one helix gear are equal in number and have the same size andshape as the teeth on the other helix gear.

7. An adjusting device of the character as defined by claim 5, whereinthe means provided by the housing unit for efiecting axial movement ofthe annular gear includes an actuating ring in surrounding relation withthe annular gear and having threaded relation with the inside surfacesof the housing unit, whereby rotation of the actuating ring will producemovement axially of the same with respect to the housing unit.

8. An adjusting device of the character as defined by claim 7,additionally including a flexible drive connected to the housing unitand operative for effecting rotation of the actuating ring. 7

9. In an adjusting device, the combination with crank arm mechanismproviding a trunnion, of an eccentric mounted on the trunnion forrotation, a first helix gear having a connected relation with theeccentric and being concentrically mounted on the trunnion outwardly ofthe eccentric, a second helix gear located outwardly of the first helixgear and beingfixedtothe trunnion in concentric relation thereon, ahousing unit mounted on the eccentric for relative rotation andenclosing the said helix gears, an actuating rack member fixed to thehousing, and means in operative connected relation with the housing andwith the helix gears for elfecting rotative movements of the eccentricas said means is given movement relative to the housing and axially ofthe trunnion.

10. An adjusting device as defined by claim 9, wherein the said meansincludes an annular gear in meshing relation at its ends With the firsthelix gear and with the fixed helix gear, respectively, and an actuatingring in operafive connected relation with the annular gear and havingthreaded connection with the housing for movement axially of thetrunnion and housing.

References Cited in. the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,555,067 Metcalf Sept. 29', 1925 2,186,395 Staude Ian. 9, 19402,346,752 Hall et al Apr. 18, 1944 2,508,971 Schlote May 23, 19502,856,793 Budlong Oct. 21, 1958 2,970,489 Eason Feb. 7, 1961

1. IN APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING STRIP MATERIAL FED TO SAID APPARATUS, INCOMBINATION, AN OPERATING SHAFT, A PLATE MEMBER FIXED TO AND ROTATINGWITH THE SHAFT, A TRUNNION MEMBER ADJUSTABLY FIXED TO THE PLATE MEMBERTO FORM CRANK ARM MECHANISM THEREWITH, AN ADJUSTABLE ECCENTRIC DEVICE ISASSOCIATED RELATION WITH THE TRUNNION MEMBER, WHEREBY THE DEVICE ISCAPABLE OF VARYING THE ECCETRICITY OF THE CRANK ARM MECHANISM FOR ANYFIXED POSITION OF THE TRUNNION MEMBER, SAID DEVICE INCLUDING A CLAMPINGSLEEVE IN TELESCOPING RELATION ON THE TRUNNION MEMBER AND HAVING ITSBASE END IN CONTACT WITH THE PLATE MEMBER, A HELIX GEAR FIXED TO THETRUNNION MEMBER BEYOND THE SLEEVE AND HAVING CONTACT WITH THE ADJACENTEND OF THE SLEEVE, SECURING MEANS ON THE TRUNNION MEMBER BEYOND THEHELIX GEAR FOR RETAINING THE TRUNNION MEMBER, SLEEVE AND THE GEAR AS AUNIT IN FIXED POSITION ON THE PLATE MEMBER AN ECCENTRIC MEMBER HAVING ASECOND HELEX GEAR INTEGRAL THEREWITH, SAID ECCENTRIC MEMBER AND SECONDHELIX GEAR BEING MOUNTED ON THE SLEEVE FOR ROTATION AND BEING SOARRANGED THAT THE SECOND HELIX GEAR IS DISPOSED AGJACENT AND CONCENTRICWITH THE FIXED HELIX GEAR, AN ANNULAR GEAR DISPOSED IN ENCIRCLINGRELATION WITH THE SAID HELIX GEARS, SAID ANNULAR GEAR HAVING INTERNALTEETH AT RESPECTIVE ENDS THEREOF FOR MESHING RELATION WITH THE TEETH OFTHE HELIX GEARS, RESPECTIVELY, MEANS FOR EFFECTING AXIAL MOVEMENT OF THEANNULAR GEAR, AND A HOUSING UNIT FOR SAID DEVICE MOUNTED FOR ROTATION ONTHE ECCENTRIC MEMBER.